2 Kings 3:23
in 2 Kings 3“This is blood!” they exclaimed. “The kings have clashed swords and slaughtered one another. Now to the plunder, Moab!”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
and they said, This is blood; the kings are surely destroyed, and they have smitten each man his fellow: now therefore, Moab, to the spoil.
KJV
And they said, This is blood: the kings are surely slain, and they have smitten one another: now therefore, Moab, to the spoil.
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This verse in 2 Kings 3
Commentary
6 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
The sun had risen with a ruddy light, as is frequently the case after a storm (compare Mat 16:3), nearly over the Israelite camp, and the pits, deep but with small mouths, gleaming redly through the haze which would lie along the newly moistened valley, seemed to the Moabites like pools of blood. The preceding year, they and their allies had mutually destroyed each other 2Ch 20:23. It seemed to them, from their knowledge of the jealousies between Judah, Israel, and Edom, not unlikely that a similar calamity had now befallen their foes.
This site's exposition
stood in the border
on 2 Kings 3:21-23
Moab gathers everyone able to bear arms, old and young, and stands at the border to meet the invasion. The next morning's sun turns the standing water red, and the Moabites read it as three armies that destroyed one another in the night rather than as sunrise on a flood, a misreading that draws them off their guard toward the spoil. The narrator gives no comment on the mistake beyond letting its consequence follow in the next verse.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
"The kings fought together and killed one another." After the water had come and the armies of Jehoshaphat and his allied kings had drunk their fill, the Moabites, who had seen that the water was red, said this. But they were wrong, because the color …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Quod volumus facile credimus--What we wish we readily believe. Thus those that are to be destroyed are first deceived ( Rev. xx. 8 ), and none are so effectually deceived as those that deceive themselves.
And they said, this is blood,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Therefore, Moab, to the spoil - Thus they came on in a disorderly manner, and fell an easy prey to their enemies.
The words behind it
13 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֹּֽאמְרוּ֙ | vaiyomeru | and they said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| דָּ֣ם | dam | [is] blood | H1818 → | 360 times |
| זֶ֔ה | zeh | this | H2088 → | 1180 times |
| הָחֳרֵ֤ב | hochorev | certainly <to fight> | H2717 → | 40 times |
| נֶֽחֶרְבוּ֙ | nechervu | they have fought one another | H2717 → | 40 times |
| הַמְּלָכִ֔ים | hamelakhim | the kings | H4428 → | 2525 times |
| וַיַּכּ֖וּ | vaiyaku | and they have struck down | H5221 → | 499 times |
| אִ֣ישׁ | ʾish | each | H376 → | 1663 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| רֵעֵ֑הוּ | reehu | neighbor his | H7453 → | 188 times |
| וְעַתָּ֥ה | veatah | and therefore | H6258 → | 433 times |
| לַשָּׁלָ֖ל | lashalal | to the plunder | H7998 → | |
| מוֹאָֽב׃ | moav | O Moab | H4124 → | 181 times |
וַיֹּֽאמְרוּ֙and they said
vaiyomeruH559 →5305 times
דָּ֣ם[is] blood
damH1818 →360 times
זֶ֔הthis
zehH2088 →1180 times
הָחֳרֵ֤בcertainly <to fight>
hochorevH2717 →40 times
נֶֽחֶרְבוּ֙they have fought one another
nechervuH2717 →40 times
הַמְּלָכִ֔יםthe kings
hamelakhimH4428 →2525 times
וַיַּכּ֖וּand they have struck down
vaiyakuH5221 →499 times
אִ֣ישׁeach
ʾishH376 →1663 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
רֵעֵ֑הוּneighbor his
reehuH7453 →188 times
וְעַתָּ֥הand therefore
veatahH6258 →433 times
לַשָּׁלָ֖לto the plunder
lashalalH7998 →
מוֹאָֽב׃O Moab
moavH4124 →181 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
2 Kings 7:6For the Lord had caused the Arameans to hear the sound of chariots, horses, and a great army, so that they said to one another, “Look, the king of Israel must have hired the…
it leads to
- 2 Samuel 5:24
As soon as you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees, move quickly, because this will mean that the LORD has marched out before you to strike the camp…
- Isaiah 31:1
Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, who rely on horses, who trust in their abundance of chariots and in their multitude of horsemen. They do not look to the Holy…
- 1 Kings 10:29
A chariot could be imported from Egypt for six hundred shekels of silver, and a horse for a hundred and fifty. Likewise, they exported them to all the kings of the Hittites and to…
- Revelation 9:9
They also had thoraxes like breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was like the roar of many horses and chariots rushing into battle.
- 2 Samuel 5:24
Through
Judges 5:30‘Are they not finding and dividing the spoil—a girl or two for each warrior, a plunder of dyed garments for Sisera, the spoil of embroidered garments for the neck of the looter?’
it leads to
- Exodus 15:9
The enemy declared, ‘I will pursue, I will overtake. I will divide the spoils; I will gorge myself on them. I will draw my sword; my hand will destroy them.’
- Exodus 15:9
Through
2 Chronicles 20:25Then Jehoshaphat and his people went to carry off the plunder, and they found on the bodies an abundance of goods and valuables—more than they could carry away. They were gathering the plunder for…
it leads to
- 1 Samuel 30:19–20
Nothing was missing, young or old, son or daughter, or any of the plunder the Amalekites had taken. David brought everything back.
- Numbers 31:15
“Have you spared all the women?” he asked them.
- 2 Kings 7:9–16
Finally, they said to one another, “We are not doing what is right. Today is a day of good news. If we are silent and wait until morning light, our sin will overtake us.…
- 1 Samuel 30:19–20
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About 2 Kings
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Ephrem the Syrian, ON THE SECOND BOOK OF KINGS 3:25; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.